A Rose Between Daisies
by MedPomfritter
Summary: Rose's 5th year is going to be the best one yet, but when rumours and half truths treaten to destroy her relationships with her loved ones, help is recieved from the most unlikely of people... The story is not as bad as the summary!
1. Of Introductions and CatFights

**Disclaimer: However much I wish I were, unfortunately, I am not J K Rowling, and, therefore, I don't own Harry Potter... I just own the plot and everything else in this story that you don't recognise.Author's Note: Hi everybody! wavesThis is the first story I have written, and I'm very excited about it, so hope that you guys will enjoy it, and that you won't be too harsh, since English isn't my native language, and there might be some grammatical errors... in that case, sue my English teacher!**

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**A Rose Between Daisies**

Chapter 1: Of introductions and cat-fights

I was sitting in the back seat of my dad's orange Ford something-or-another Stationcar. My brother, Hugo, was sitting right next to me.

My parents were in the front seats, in the middle of another "discussion', as my mum calls them.

"I'm just saying, Ronald, that driving left in the last swing was a huge detour! If you hadn't done that, we'd be at the station by now. Honestly, you've driven the route for almost 5 years now."

"And I'm just saying, _'Mione_, that I'm the one driving, and we still have half an hour to get there", my dad snapped back, letting go of the wheel in sheer frustration. That, of course, made my mum yell.

While my parents fought over the wheel, and Hugo just sat next to me in his own world with his precious chocolate frogs, I got a call on my two-way. It was Samantha, my best friend, and the wackiest person on the planet Earth.

Apparently, she had dyed her hair black, which didn't actually surprise me since she always complained about it being red (mine is too, but she always excused herself by adding a quick, "it looks way better on you!"). I chose not to comment on it.

I had to say though, that the black hair really complimented her chestnut eyes. Her eyes were her best feature, and a huge mystery, since neither of her parents had brown eyes.

She started yelling, before I even got a chance to open my mouth, "WHERE ARE YOU WEASLEY? I've only been here five minutes, and the girl has already managed to drive me insane!"

I knew that by "the girl" she meant Grace Finnegan. She was the Gryffindor bimbo. She had long brown hair, with highlights, brown eyes and an Irish accent that made all the blokes in school drool over her, as if she were a veela. She was also the exact opposite of Sam.

"I swear to my grandpa's cell in Azkaban, that if you haven't arrived in 10 minutes, we are no longer friends Rosie", Sam continued, before ending the conversation.

Laura and Natascha, my other two best friends, of course weren't there yet, due to the fact that they always arrived at the last minute, so I was her only hope.

I didn't find it particularly comforting having to push my dad's temper even further, so I was very relieved when I saw Kings Cross.

Ignoring Hugo's scared facial expression, I quickly stuffed my two-way mirror back in my handbag and jumped out of the car as soon as my dad had parked it in a free spot (he took his sweet time, and I wanted to strangle him with my bare hands).

I ran so fast, you'd think Voldemort himself was in my heals, aware of the fact, that my mum would reprimand me once she reached me, but I would prefer a 'Hermione Weasley lecture' to Sam's wrath.

I stopped when I reached the barrier between the platforms 9 and 10, and looked around for any sign of curious muggles. I then ran through it, and onto platform 9 ¾, where I collided with something… or apparently, someone.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," the 'someone' said, in a strangely familiar voice. I had heard it before, but never in that tone… I looked up, just as the boy did the same, to see the one person that I swore to my self I'd avoid at all costs this year… or at least during the train ride.

"Malfoy," I mumbled, feeling more frustrated by the second.

'What a great way to start out the year' I thought to myself.

As soon as the bloke recognised me, he continued in his usual drawl, the one that I was oh so familiar with.

"Well, hello Rosie-Posie, fancy meeting you here! Where's the fire?" He then took a look around, eyes landing on the cat-fight developing in front of us. "Oh, by the way; if you haven't noticed yet, my sister is in the middle of biting Finnegan's head of, right over there." He turned back to me and pointed over his right shoulder.

I crossed my arms, and looked at him with eyes that clearly said 'no shit Sherlock', and snapped at him; "Why, thanks for pointing that out for me, Captain Obvious, and for wasting my time." (I know; Rosie, 5 years old!)

I wasn't angry, but the boy always knew how to push my buttons, without even trying.

Without a second glance, I strutted right past him, and went over to separate my best friend and her ark enemy (sadly, no, I'm not exaggerating!).

I don't actually know how I managed to get them to stop fighting, but it involved a lot of my pulling Sam in one direction, and, surprisingly, Scorpius Malfoy pulling Grace in the other direction by the wrist.

In the meantime my parents and Hugo showed up, all with faces that clearly read 'nothing new under the sun', which was, of course, true. The same thing happened every year.

I looked sideways at Sam, a little scared since she looked like she might murder the one closest to her. It was a look that she usually saved for my cousin, Albus.

"Thanks," she sighed, "I seriously think I would have killed her if you hadn't barged in Rosie." She looked very solemn, making me fall in to a fit of giggles.

"Well, it's kind of routine, isn't it?" Soon we were both laughing like maniacs. We were laughing so hard that several people turned their heads, and we didn't even notice Scorpius appearing at our side with a surrendering expression on his face.

"Uhm, girl-who-claims-to-be-my-sister-but-is-clearly-adopted, I just wanted you to know that mum's asking for you. She's got your trunk."

My best friend took her time to stop laughing, and sighed. "Coming Scor, just a sec," she told her brother. She turned back to me, and smirked when she noticed me looking after him, but quickly turned serious. "Make sure to find Nat and Laura, so we don't end up in different compartments, like last year!"

I promised her to do so, and she reluctantly when over to her family, with her hands deeply buried in her jean-pockets.

She and her dad didn't actually get along well, with her being in Gryffindor and all. She had rebelled by permanently-sticking red and gold posters all over her room. Mr. Malfoy had freaked out, and Sam had referred to it as "my proudest hour". I know she couldn't care less about her dad, but I still found it sad, because I was so close to my entire family.

I was brought back to earth by somebody yelling my name, and turned on the spot. My cousin, Lily, came running towards me, with a huge grin on her face.

Lily is Al's little sister, and the most beautiful 13-year-old I had ever seen. She had long flaming red hair, and chocolate-brown eyes. She was the spitting image of her mother, my aunt Ginny. She was also a bit of a tom boy.

"Hi Lils," I greeted her, "where's everybody?"

"Mum and dad are over by that wall, behind Malou Thurston's family, they are talking to your parents. Your mum didn't seem happy though…" She looked at me questioningly, but I chose to ignore that. Instead I began walking towards my family.

Apparently my dad and Ginny were having the same discussion they always have; Canons Vs Harpies. You see, my aunt used to play chaser for the Holyhead Harpies before she had my cousin James, and she has been a fan since she was, like, 13 years old. My dad, however, is a hopeless Chudley Canons-fan, just like me. I was brought up to be a Canons-fan, and every year during the holidays, my dad and I go to watch a game. That should also explain my bright orange handbag.

Mum looked mad, just like Lily had said, and I realised that, in my hurry to get to Sam, I'd forgotten my trunk in the car.

I gave mum and dad a sheepish look, and mumbled a quick "sorry". Mum just shook her head, showing that she wasn't sure she'd be able to handle an explanation.

She, then, handed me my suitcase, which I accidentally-on purpose placed on Hugo's foot. He shot me a nasty glare, and went to talk to Lily and her friend Rebekah.

I hugged aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry, before giving their godson, Ted Lupin, a huge bear-hug. He was 23 years old, and probably the coolest person in the world.

"How's my pumpkin? My, how you've grown Rose!" he faked amazement, and I hit him in the back of his head.

"Yeah," I replied sarcastically, "it's funny how much a person can change in one day…" I stuck my tongue out at him, and went to hug Al and James.

Jamie, being the mature boy that he is, yelled as loud as he could "GIRL-COODIES", and ran off with his arms waving in the air, probably to meet up with his best friend, and partner in crime, Jess, who's also my Uncle George's next-oldest son.

"I think they made a mistake at St. Mungo's 16 years ago, because that kid is not related to me, I swear it!" My aunt muttered to her husband.

Suddenly, I remembered what I had promised Sam, and found my two-way mirror in my orange handbag.

"Natascha Daniels," I said loud and clearly. In less than two seconds, my reflection was replaced by the face of a grey-green eyed girl with long, straight, light brown hair.

She cracked her infamous smile, and exclaimed; "Rosie m'girl! How's my favourite carrot top?"

"Where are you Nat?" I asked her. She flipped her own mirror, showing me a big red train with the words 'Hogwarts Express' on it.

"Don't worry, I'll find you. Yours is the only family where more than half the members are ginger, so it should be a piece of cake!" she laughed, and then disappeared from the mirror.

I, smart as I am, figured out that she was probably already there. And I was right.

Less than two minutes later, I heard the squeals of my two friends, and ran to hug them. I could feel Al and Hugo rolling their eyes behind my back, but was too caught up with my girls to reprimand them.

Natascha and Laura always arrived at the platform together. Nat's father was a muggle, and he worked 24/7. Her mum died of cancer when Nat was 8 years old. She is originally from Oxfordshire, but she, her dad and her sister moved to Boston a year after the death of her mother. My friend is strong, but I still sometimes catch her crying in secret.

"So… what did Blondie McBimbo do this time?" Laura asked me, humor dancing in her honey brown eyes. It was Sam who had made up the nickname.

"I did not actually ask her. I didn't have the time, because her brother dragged her off so quickly," I said, only just realising that I did not know the reason for the fight.

It didn't seem like the girl had heard me though, because she was now standing against the wall, with a pensive look on her face. That's Laura for you.

Laura Longbottom is my oldest friend, besides Al of course, because her parents and mine know each other from school. Her dad was our Herbology teacher at Hogwarts, while her mum was… well, a little odd… there is not much more to say about her. It was from her mum that Laura had inherited her dirty blond hair.

I gave her an odd look (she didn't notice of course) and turned to face Nat.

"Why are you here so early, by the way?" I smirked, "it's only five minutes to eleven. I assumed that you guys _liked_ having to jump on the train while it's moving." The girl just laughed, and ignored my comment.

I looked over at my parents and saw that they were having a conversation with Mrs. Longbottom. I assumed that her husband was already at the school.

"So… Should we try to find Sam, Scorpius and a compartment? I don't know if it will necessarily be in that order, thinking about a couple of years ago, when little Sammie thought it would be hilarious to play hide and seek in the train without warning us." It was Al. He had walked over without anyone noticing, which caused me to jump two feet in the air when he spoke.

We all agreed, said goodbye to our parents and went to board the train.

Destination: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!

**Okay, so this was the first chapter... Hope you liked it! I'd really appreciate it if you would please leave a review.Lea T A.**


	2. The Simplest of Plans

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and I don't own Simple Plan (I wish I did), but I do own every single original thought in this story.**Chapter 2: The Simplest of Plans

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It turned out to be much easier to find Sam than we had expected. The music from her brand new IPod could be heard all over the Express.

We followed the familiar tunes and found her in a compartment by herself.

'Not so surprising' I concluded, as I watched my best friend dancing on the seats, her head decorated with a pair of the biggest headphones I'd ever seen.

The song had now changed, and she was singing along to the chorus of one that I didn't know: "Jump! Don't wanna think about tomorrow. Jump! I just don't care tonight."

Neither of us knew what to do, so we just stood there for what seemed like hours, watching Sam acting as if she were on crack. Nat was slowly backing away from the door, and Al was standing with his face in his hands.

"Let go, woooa…" Sam opened her eyes and found us standing there, stopped dancing and flashed Al a wide grin. Nat and I looked at each other, since hate and anger usually were the only emotions her face showed when she was near him. Something was going on.

"Hi guys, you found me," she exclaimed, jumping off the seat. She sat down on it with her legs crossed.

Nat went inside the compartment and sat down on Sam's right side, followed by an absentminded Laura.

"Well," I took a seat after placing my trunk next to the door and rolled my eyes at her. It had become a bad habit for me to do so. "We simply followed the sounds of 'I'm Just a Kid'… you weren't really that hard to find, you know."

She just laughed loudly, while re-doing her very messy ponytail. The girl had got the idea into her head, that there was no such thing as punk-rock music without head banging. How her headphones had stayed on was a mystery to me.

"My mum would have a hippogriff if she found me listening to this," she pointed at the music-player, "and thanks to you and your spells, Rosie, I was able to make it work, even at Hogwarts." I found myself actually cursing my magical skills for the first time ever.

Looking around, I realised that Al was still standing in the doorway looking uncomfortable. I waved my hand, gesturing for him to sit down next to me. It didn't seem like my cousin to be shy, and he had known us all for at least 4 years. 'Yup!' I thought to myself, 'something's definitely going on.'

We sat there for about half an hour, when Scorpius stepped into our compartment. I had actually wondered where he was, since he usually sat with us, but came to the conclusion that he just wanted to do me a favour.

"Uhm, Rosie the Heads are asking for you. Aren't you a prefect?" He smirked at me, and I found myself doing something I'd never, in my whole life, done before... I blushed! And not just a faint blush, no, I felt my whole face, and my ears, go as read as my hair in the matter of seconds.

I then comprehended what he had said, and jumped up. "Shit, I forgot!" I exclaimed, and ran as fast as I could, with Malfoy in my heals.

How could I have forgotten? It was all I had talked about the whole week.

'I will never have to exercise aver again,' I thought to myself, as I slowed down and turned left, into the prefects' compartment.

"I'm… so… sorry" I stuttered between breaths, trying to ignore the looks every single prefect was giving me. I hung my head and sat down next to my fellow Gryffindor prefect, Benjamin Parker.

'And I say it again; great way to start off the year!' my mind said, while I was trying very hard not to look into Scorpius' eyes. He was looking right at me. 'This is so not normal. Get a grip, Weasley!' I forced my eyes to focus on my shoes. I had never really noticed the colour of them before. 'What an interesting shade of orange.'

"Okay, silence everybody. Fifth years here are your round partners for the entire year, sixth and seventh-year prefects will keep their usual partners. I won't listen to any complaints! Is that clear?" The Head Boy looked at me with daring eyes. The whole summer, ever since I found out that we were both prefects, I had begged him not to make me do rounds with Scorpius, I had sent him letter after letter, but he just kept saying that it was his decision.

'He gets way to much pleasure out of torturing me!'

Oh, by the way, did I mention that the Head Boy was my older cousin Patrick? Well… yeah, way to make the situation more bearable. We all nodded simultaneously, and he listed up: "Monday; Parker & Fisher – Tuesday; Gray & Hamilton – Wednesday; Malfoy & Weasley (I inwardly groaned) and Thursday; Sanders & Young. "All patrols are from 8:30 – 9:30 and if there are any changes, it will be on the message board in your respective common rooms. That should be all, unless you have something to add Mary?" He addressed the Head Girl. She shook her head, and told us we could leave.

"What's going on Rose?" Ben turned his head to me, looking genuinely concerned.

"Nothing is wrong, don't think about it," I replied with a shrug and turned to leave, doing my best to sound casual.

I met Laura right outside in the hallway. She said something about Nat locking herself in the loo, and threatening to jump off the train if Sam played one more song. Nat was not fun to be near when she was mad, so the three of us (Scor had joined us during all the confusion) chose to go back to the compartment.

"I always knew Patrick didn't like me as well as the rest of the family, but now I officially have proof that he hates me!" I was practically fuming. Malfoy, however, looked a little hurt.

"Am I really that hard to stand? I mean, have I ever done anything to hurt you?"

"Well, no but…"

"Have I ever mocked you, or pulled pranks on you?" It was now clear, that he was messing with me. Not very cleverly, mind you, but just enough to make me even madder than I already was.

"Well, yes that you have done thousands of times. And, just for the record, would you please try to refrain from interrupting me when I'm talking!" I replied sternly, my Granger gene stepping in. I was trying to save the situation, to conceal the fact that I fell for a joke with no apparent punch line, by making a scene about it. Overreacting was part of my charm… or curse, depending on how you look at it.

When the three of us arrived at the compartment I was surprised not to see Sam and Al in a fist fight as usual. I, then, discovered that Sam was locked in a full body bind. 'Probably Al's doing'. And on the seat opposite of my frozen friend sat Al. He was playing with his golden snitch and looking very relieved. James and Jess sat on either side of him, both looking like Sylvester when he has just eaten Tweety. I was surprised not to find little yellow feathers around their mouths.

'Okay, so maybe Al isn't the culprit after all.'

It looked like someone had finally found a way to shut the girl up. Of course, I could not let them get away with attacking my best friend, or anyone else, no matter how much I really needed some peace and quiet. I gave Laura a quick wink, pulled myself up so that I was standing my full height of 5,8 and placed my hands on my hips. It was my best Hermione-impression and I would have been nothing less but distraught, had it not worked as intended.

I loudly cleared my throat and the three boys all jumped in their seats as if they had been electrocuted. 'Excellent!' I smirked to myself.

Half an hour later, James and Jess hat lifted the spell of Sam where after she had proceeded to chase the two boys all the way down the hall, screaming bloody murder. Albus was simply standing in the door, laughing at the three morons.

My friend had returned together with Al, but without James and Jess, and an annoyed expression covered her face, "someone's got to start making sure that 'pea-brain' Potter here, soon starts remembering to hide away his invisibility cloak!" Albus then nudged her in the ribs, making her nudge back. They just kept poking at each other. It looked ridiculous.

Nat had, in the meantime, returned from the bathroom and pulled out the newest edition of 'Witch Weekly' from her trunk. She and Laura were now filling me in on a 'very exciting article' about how to file your nails without having them break immediately afterwards. It was times like those, when I couldn't help but wonder if my friends actually knew me at all.

I smiled at them, put an interested look on my face, and took a quick peek at the page, before opening my handbag.

I pulled out one of my favourite muggle books, 'The Hobbit', and was soon caught up in Tolkien's exciting universe. It was weird, though, I kept feeling as though someone was watching me, and it distracted me a little. But every time I looked up, all the others were busy with their own conversations or magazines. Even Sam and Al had stopped fighting and were now busy discussing the result of the House Quidditch-Cup. They both played seeker, Sam played for Gryffindor and Albus played for Slytherin. Al was the first Potter to ever get into Slytherin, and he was pretty lucky that his parents are who they are.

Instead of showing disappointment, as I am pretty sure my dad would have done, they encouraged him and told him that it was not a bad house to end up in.

My dad told me before I got on the train for the first time, that if I didn't get into Gryffindor, he'd disinherit me. Though I'm sure he was only joking, I don't think he would have handled the situation very well, had it been me in Al's place.

I spent the next 30 minutes or so, imagining the many ways in which my dad could have reacted, had I been sorted into Slytherin.

One of my favourite fantasy-blow up's, was one in which my dad's face ended up looking like a tomato, and he was just standing there, with the letter in his hand, steam coming out of his ears. Of course, in the end he would get so mad, that he'd take it out on poor Hugo, who was standing beside him. The thought made me smile to myself behind my book.

But later on, my thoughts were interrupted by, drum roll, more family. It was Gabriella, my two year older cousin. Gabby was the first girl I ever really talked to. I was a bit of a tomboy when I was little, and enjoyed the company of my male cousins a lot, but she's always been the one I go to for advice. That's probably why she is in Hufflepuff as the only one in the family.

I went over and hugged her, and she gave me a questioning look, before eyeing the decent conversation between my Sam and her much-less-than-friend.

Shrugging my shoulders, I sat back down on my seat. Apparently, I was not the only one noticing a difference.

"So where did you go this summer?" She popped down across from me, where Scorpius had originally sat. It wasn't until now that I noticed he was gone.

"Oh, not much," I came back to reality, "Hugo and I spent the summer with our grandparents on the South Coast." My mum's parents didn't live very close to us, so we usually stayed there for a couple of weeks at a time. This was the first time that my parents hadn't joined us there.

"So you spent all of your holiday in Bournemouth? What is there to do in that town?" She asked, looking sceptical.

I gave her a look that clearly said 'are you crazy?' and replied, "There are lots of thing to do! My grandparents live right across from the bus stop, and it only takes about half an hour to get to the town Square. And then there is the neighbour's daughter. She and I have a lot in common. Besides, Hugo and I were only there for a couple of weeks. The rest of the time, we were just at home or at the Burrow." Everybody in the compartment looked at me blankly, not saying a word.

Another bad habit of mine was that I sometimes ended up talking extremely loud, without noticing.

Gabby opened her mouth to speak, but I took a look at my watch, and beat her to it, "we better go change into our uniforms, we should be arriving soon."

After we had all changed into our robes, Gabriella went back to her friends, and the five of us went back to the compartment, to get our belongings.

Natascha poked me on the shoulder. She pointed out the window, and there it was. The place that was going to be my home for yet another year, the most beautiful place in the whole World; Hogwarts Castle.

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**Okay, so that was the second chapter of A Rose Between Daisies, hope you enjoyed it! PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. A New Addition

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything familiar, Rowling does. Only in my dreams does the plot of Harry Potter belong to me.**

Chapter Three: A New Addition

Getting out of the train seemed to take longer than usual. Every time either of us took a step forward, we were pushed back by a bunch of first or second years. They were everywhere. One person, however, stood out from the crowd.

"HAGRID!"

The giant man turned his head, and a huge smile broke out on his face. "Rose! Albus! 'Ow good ter' see ya!" He engulfed us all in a giant bear hug.

"It's great to see you too Hagrid! How's Fang doing?" Al rubbed his right arm, looking relieved, when the half-giant finally let go of us.

Hagrid's facial expression changed a little, he looked suddenly worried. "'E's not doin' too well these days, gettin' old an' all."

Fang had been living in the hut since our parents went to school, so his getting old wasn't a major chock to anyone… well, to anyone except for Hagrid.

"Uhm, guys, I think we need to find a coach before they're all taken," Nat pointed out, looking around the station. The crowd of students had started to decrease, except for a bunch of scared-looking new ones.

That seemed to bring Hagrid to his senses, and he hurried away to take care of the first years with a quick wave in our direction. "Firs'-years, this way!"

"That was a little odd," I concluded, my brows wrinkling.

"Yeah, it's amazing that our ribs aren't broken after that squeeze!"

"No, Sam, I mean the way he just forgot about the midgets. He seemed awfully distracted." I gave our huge friend one last glance, making a mental note to visit his cabin as soon as possible, before following the others in direction of where the many horseless stagecoaches waited, my suitcase still trailing after me.

We couldn't all fit in one coach, so Laura and I ended up in the same one as Scorpius and a third-year Hufflepuff by the name of, if I'm not mistaken, Luca Phillips. Fan-bloody-tastic!

The drive up to the castle was the most awkward moment of my life. Laura was just looking out the window the entire time, while poor Luca kept creeping farther and farther away from us all, as if we were going to eat her. Scorpius, however, just sat there, staring straight into the air in front of him, not moving a muscle.

He kept looking at me out of the corner of his eyes, but looked back when he noticed me watching.

'And just when you think the boy can't get any stranger…' I thought, shaking my head so that the read curls flew into my eyes.

Deciding that I wasn't a fan of awkward silences, and that my 'friends' were going to pay for making me find another coach, I turned my head in the direction of my, all time, least favourite Slytherin, "Where did you go during the train ride?"

He didn't even bother to look at me, "None of your business, Weaslette!"

'Oh well, school year has now officially started!'

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While walking up towards the main entrance, I felt a little glad that it didn't rain. It did rain the year before, and it was a nightmare walking through the huge masses of mud that it had resulted in.

But today the sky was surprisingly clear. There were no clouds in sight, not your typical British weather.

Laura was walking next to me, looking to each side a couple of times. I assumed she was trying to locate the others.

It wasn't until we reached the Great Hall, after dropping off our luggage in the entrance, that I was shocked by a jab in the side.

"Sam has saved our seats at the table, and snake-head Potter is already amongst his own kind" Nat nodded towards my cousin at the Slytherin table, and led the way to where Sam was sitting.

"You know, I had to push away a lot of seventh and sixth-years, who now all hate me by the way, to make room for your fat arses," she said with a wide smile, showing us that she really enjoyed her power over the older students.

We all sat down next to her when we heard the huge doors open behind us. In tumbled a bunch of scared-looking first-year students. Professor Longbottom (Laura's dad) lead them past the house-tables, pulled out a roll of parchment from his robes, and started calling out each new student's name, one by one.

"Adams, Karen…"

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The food at Hogwarts had always been amazing. Of course, I have always been told that my 'love' for food is unnatural, but the school's house elves are still phenomenal when it comes to cooking.

"Rosie, you should really try taking smaller bites, it's very unflattering!" Nat said from beside me.

I turned my head and rolled my eyes at her, "can't help it," was all I managed to get out. I swallowed and continued talking, "you know that Natascha."

Nat just kept on eating her pudding, but soon discovered that everything had been cleared from the tables. She 'hmf'ed and crossed her arms over her chest.

McGonagall cleared her throat, "Hello students, to another year at Hogwarts School…"

Sam and I cheered loudly, for which we received a glare from the head mistress, and a disapproving look from Nat.

"New as well as old ones," she continued, "I just wanted to lay down a couple of rules for the new pupils… some of the old ones might also need an update," She looked at James and Jess, who simply took a bow.

First of all; The Forbidden forest is out of bounds to all students, and I'm saying this for your own good. And second, Mr. Filch has, once again, requested that I remind you of the list hanging on the door to his office, containing all the objects that you are not allowed to be in possession of, on the school grounds.

"That, I believe, was all. You can all go to bed, so that you can be well-rested for classes tomorrow." With that she sat back down.

"I bombed!" Sam was sitting with her hand under her chin, supporting her head. Her eyes were partly closed, and she looked as if she would fall asleep any second.

"Join the unfortunate club, Sammie," I yawned, "I'm more than relieved that Ben offered to show the midgets to the common room by himself."

Nat looked at us like we were crazy, and shook her head, "how on earth can you two be tired already?" and then she got up and stalked out of the Great Hall, like only she could.

Laura, Sam and I reluctantly followed her up to the dorms, waving goodbye to Al and Scor on the way out.

Nat was already sitting on her four-poster bed when the three of us arrived there. Luckily, Grace wasn't there yet, so we had some time for our selves to unpack.

Bludger, my tawny owl, was sitting in the windowsill. He always flew here by himself, so that I didn't have to carry him with me. He hooted in my direction, flew back out of the open window and then hit a tree, hence the name Bludger. He was not a master flyer.

I silently shook my head at my pathetic excuse for an owl, and began unpacking my possessions. About half of the room in my trunk was filled out with books. My eternal battle was, and would always be, having to choose between them all. Pathetic, I know!

I was in the middle of putting up my Chudley Canons-poster, right over my dresser, when _Blondie _walked in without saying a word. She pulled out a nightgown (that was more of a see-through bunch of material to show of her 'sexy' lengerie) and a toothbrush from her trunk, and went out into the bathroom.

I gave Nat an amused look, which she returned. We both looked in the direction of our black-haired friend. Sam, however, didn't seem to have noticed the girl's presence. She looked lost in thought. Nat and I, then, exchanged another look.

I shrugged on my shoulders and went back to putting up my poster. I was particularly fond of this one, due to the fact that it contained autographs of every single player, including their new seeker. My dad had a lot of friends in the ministry's sports-department.

It took Grace 30 minutes to come back out from the loo, and she went straight to bed, requesting that we please 'be quiet, because she needed her beauty sleep'.

"You sure do!" I mumbled to myself, but Sam heard it and broke in to fits of laughter.

Soon, both Sam and I were rolling around on the floor, trying, but failing miserably, to catch our breath.

Grace huffed, and closed the curtains on her four-poster. We didn't hear from her the rest of the night.

'And thank Merlin for that!' I thought to myself, as I shut my own curtains and pulled out 'The Hobbit' from my purse. After reading one page, I decided to read something else. Something… lighter.

I decided to read my collection of muggle fairytales. The kind of stories, which I knew ended with 'happily ever after'. Those were some of my favourite things to read, because they made me feel all fuzzy inside - they made me think of all the good things, that would make my own happy ending.

But it didn't last long. I had barely started reading "The Princess on the Pea", when Nat stuck her head through the curtains, "Pig is here - I assume that the letter is for you."

I pulled away the crimson curtains, and Í barely got to react, before a feathered ball, the size of a golden snitch, began spinning around my head.

"Merlin, will you please calm down you idiotic bird!"

It took me five minutes to calm him down, so I could get my letter:

_Dear Rosie,_

_I know it's a little early for a letter, but we thought you should know that Victorie had her baby just this afternoon - a little girl!_

_We talked to Teddy, who says 'hello' by the way, and they are thinking of naming her Lucy. He asked us to inform you, though, that your agreement still stands, which means that you still have veto-power, if you have an idea for a better name._

_We haven't written a letter to your brother yet, he'll receive his tomorrow at breakfast, so could you please inform him and Al? Please give them our love as well._

_We hope that you are having the time of your life, because your years at school are supposed to be the best moments of your childhood!_

_All our love,_

_Dad and Mum, xxx_

_P.S. Everybody else says Hi!_

I gave a huge grin, and shoved the letter into Nat's hands, who read it and then gave it to Laura, who gave it to Sam.

I found feathered quill, ink and parchment in my suitcase, and scribbled two quick, and similar, notes; one for Hugo, and one for Al, figuring that I could just wait for tomorrow to answer my parents.

_Victorie had a Girl - to be called Lucy, Rosie, xoxo _(I had decided that I really liked the name). _Aunts, uncles and Teddy say Hi!_

I had barely tied them against Pig's leg, before the miniature owl was off out of the window. I simply shook my head at him, what more can one do?

Sam gave me a hug from behind, before 'hitting the hay' as she called it.

When I looked around, I discovered that Laura and Nat were already fast asleep - 'So much for not being tired, huh, Nat?' - and decided that I should probably brush my teeth, before re-opening my book.

It turned out to be an extremely good idea, because my head had barely hit the pillow, before I was sound asleep, with the huge book of fairytales lying on my stomach.

That night, I dreamt of nothing but happy endings the entire time, and they all included my family and friends… and the occasional 'Prince Charming' of course!

* * *

**Okay, so that was chapter 3 everybody, hope you liked it!**


	4. Worst Day Ever

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter or anything else that might seem familiar. I don't own the song either. 'Worst Day Ever' belongs to the five hunks from Montreal, Canada; Pierre, Jeff, Seb, Chuck and David!**

Chapter Four: Worst Day Ever

_I walked down the marble staircase toward the great hall. The train on my purple silk dress was trailing down behind me. I caught a glint of my reflection in one of the dark windows and, frankly, I had never looked better. My red hair had been tamed and curled up in an elegant bun with strays of loose hair hanging down the sides of my head. My dress was strapless, held up by a bow in the back of my neck. I had smoky eyes, and a pale pink lip gloss on my lips. _

_I turned my head and spotted him. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs in his black tuxedo dress ropes. He took my hand and lead me into Great Hall. _

_It was decorated with ice-sculptures and what-not, making the amazing room look even more amazing than I had ever seen it. Where the teachers usually sat, the orchestra was situated. They played mostly jazz. _

_The blond, familiar-looking boy lead me out on the dance floor immediately, and we started dancing. But I had barely put my hand on his shoulder before the music changed. The song was one I had heard before, though I couldn't point it out. _

_**"Six a.m., the clock is ringing, I need to spend an hour snoozing…"**_

"SAM!! Make that bloody alarm SHUT THE HELL UP!" I jumped out of my bed, ripped open the curtains on my four-poster, turned off her annoying Simple Plan-alarm clock and went over to try waking her up. It was the same thing every single Hogwarts-morning, and I somehow managed to block it out every summer. Samantha, the idiot that she was, would set her alarm to six 'o clock in the morning, and then she'd be the only one who didn't actually wake at the sound of it. The worst thing being that it was always the same song, waking us up.

I tried shaking Sam, but she simply wouldn't wake, so I had to yell at Nat for her to come help me. She took a look at Sam, sighed, walked over to the four-poster and yelled into the girl's ear as loud as she could, "GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM!"

Sam let out a scream, "oh my god! What the hell are you on?" got up faster than light, and got dressed before any of us had a chance to comprehend it, sending Nat the occasional death glare in the process. Nat, however, just returned them with a huge smirk.

I rolled my eyes at the two girls, smiling secretly at Nat's Robin Williams impression, and lay back down on my bed, trying without any luck to fall back asleep. My very thoughtful friends just kept rushing around, making a lot of noise.

A loud nock on the door, however, was what made me surrender. I got up and opened it to find Al standing in the doorway, leaning lazily against the frame.

"I should've never given you that password!" I said, before returning to my four-poster, this time to find my school ropes in my trunk.

Al just went in and sat on my bed, "I figured that you'd all probably be up by now."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Yea, but you usually sleep 'till ten minutes before breakfast ends, what are you doing up?" I was a little curious at my cousin's early morning. He didn't seem present, though.

"AL!" The very loud sound of my voice caused everyone to turn their heads in my direction, except for Grace who, of course, had been in the bathroom for the last 30 minutes. Al shook his head, as if getting out of some kind of trance. My curiousness was now directed towards whatever made Albus Potter act like he did, but he just kept ignoring my looks, getting more and more red in the face.

'I wonder what that's all about?' I thought to myself, as I proceeded trying to hammer down the bathroom-door, with Grace yelling at me from the other side.

"Hurry up, Barbie, or you might find that all your stuff is missing, by the time you do get out!" Sam shouted at her. The door opened, and Grace stepped back out in the room with an offended 'hmf'.

* * *

Half an hour later, we were all on our way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Sam was entertaining us all with some very unique sights on Paper, Scissors, Rock - how the subject had come up, I had no idea!

"I mean, how can a piece of paper beat a rock? Anyone knows that a rock would be able to break free from a piece of paper, besides, a rock is an inanimate object, it is not dependent on oxygen."

Having to keep my mouth closed, for the sake of our friendship, I simply shook my head and rolled my eyes in Al's direction. He just shrugged on his shoulders in return.

"Okay," Nat vocalized the annoyed thoughts in my head, "First of all; please remember to breathe once in a while, you might suffocate! Second; how you could possibly know a fancy word, such as 'inanimate', is pretty much beyond me, and third; would you just bloody get over this! It's a stupid, unimportant game."

Sam remained quiet the rest of the way down there, but she completely ignored Nat the whole time. Al and I looked at each other, and then had to really restrain ourselves not to crack up laughing.

When we reached the Great Hall, I realized that we were some of the first students down there.

We all sat down - Al used to sit at our table in the morning - Sam and Nat as far away from each other as possible, and McGonagall came over to where we sat, handing us each a schedule.

"Lovely," I replied sarcastically, after taking a look at the piece of paper in my hand, "double lesson in the history of magic… what a way to start off the school-year!"

"You said it, sister," Nat groaned from next to me, before grabbing a roll from one of the platters, and buttering it.

Laura looked up from her paper and smiled, "well, I'm sure looking forward to the herbology-class. The only thing I'm not exactly thrilled about, is the double DADA!" All I could do, was shake my head at her ability to be so chipper at seven thirty in the morning.

It wasn't until half an hour later, that the owls began to arrive. Most of our fellow students had joined us around the tables, and were now all in the middle of opening letters an packages from home.

I heard a 'crash' from right beside me, and turned my head to discover that my dad's miniature owl had, once again, pursued to nock over my glass of pumpkin juice. I sighed heavily, and caught Pig in the palm of my hand. Two letters were fastened to his leg, one for me and one for my brother. I looked around for him, discovering that he was seated at the other end of the Gryffindor table. I flicked my wand at the spilled liquid, muttering a quick spell under my breath and got up to hand Hugo his letter.

"Here you go, Hugh… It's from mum and dad," I said, while poking him in the back. My younger brother was lying with his head on the table, looking pretty snoozy. He lifted his head, just enough so that he could see me, took the letter out of my hand, and responded with a grunt. He wasn't much of a morning person.

I went back to my own seat at the table, and opened the letter addressed to me. It contained a picture of Teddy, Victorie and a small, pink haired baby, that I could only assume was Lucy. Teddy had written a note one the back of the photo, that said:

_Hi Red! Since I wasn't the one who delivered the news to you, I thought I'd write to you today. I'm really glad that you like the name, since we promised you a say in the matter! Please show the picture to all your cousins, 'cause you, Tyler and Gen have each gotten one. We're all looking forward to hearing from you and from all the others. _

_Stay Jolly, _

_Teddy _

I gave the picture to a curious Al, who was sitting to my left. He smiled and handed it over to Laura, Sam and Nat (Who moved over next to Sam, so she, too, could see the picture), and they cooed over it for five whole minutes. I just shook my head, and proceeded to finish eating my cherry-danish, reminding myself to write Teddy back after class.

* * *

"Okay, next year I am so not taking History of Magic! If only it wasn't mandatory," Nat was sitting right next to me in the classroom, just close enough so I was able to hear her constant muttering under her breath.

"And, right now, Al and Scorpius are sitting in Charms," she sighed, "Ah, to be in Slytherin!"

I moved out to the edge of my seat, as far away from her as possible, in a desperate attempt to actually hear what Binns was saying, but it didn't help a lot. His voice was monotone, and everything he said was mixed with Nat's muttering and Sam's fingers drumming against the table.

However much I tried to avoid it, I ended up falling asleep ten minutes into the lecture, not waking before I received a kick in the shin by one of my housemates about half an hour later. Nat gave me a look that said 'if I have to be awake through this, then so do you!' She didn't have to stay awake though, it was something she had promised herself she would.

But I did as she told me anyhow. I put my hand underneath my chin for support, and tried as well as I could not to turn out the voice of our professor. It wasn't easy! My eyelids were getting heavier by the second, and Binns was talking about something to do with centaurs and some kind of uproar back in eighteen hundred and… something. That was the amount of history that my brain took in during those extremely boring 90 minutes, on that extremely boring Thursday morning.

The three of us were the last ones to leave the classroom afterwards. I was ransacking my book bag, trying to find my schedule, when I bumped into someone.

"Nice to bump into you here, Rose," he said, that annoyingly adorable smirk, once again plastered on his face.

'Okay, that's enough Rose! His smirk is so not adorable…' I mentally scolded myself.

I shook my head, and pushed right past him, "why do you insist on talking to me, of all people? Your sister is right over there, Ferret-boy!" I looked back, pointing in Sam's direction, while I silently enjoyed watching his face go red at the nickname, the one that had once belonged to his father. He walked away without another word.

I looked at my friends, who had all stopped to watch the show. They all looked like they were having a blast. I growled in their direction - causing them to erupt into a fit of laughter - and kept on walking.

"Uhm, Rosie… DADA is the other way," I heard Laura's weak voice behind me. In an attempt to save my last piece of dignity, I just turned around and walked the other way, completely ignoring the others.

'Oh yea, I have really missed school… can't remember why, though!?'

* * *

When we stepped into the classroom, the professor was already there. Our old DADA teacher had retired last year, so no one knew the woman standing behind the desk at the end of the room. She was Asian, average height, and had straight, black hair. She looked stern, but friendly all the same. She didn't say a word, until the last ones had sat down.

"Hello everybody! I'm professor Chang, and I am taking over from Mrs Gray in making you all set ready for the OWL's at the end of this year.," she looked around at us all while talking.

"Okay, I think we should just begin. I would like to use the first month's classes to get an idea of how far you've all come. We're going to be starting out a little hard, so if you'll please stand up in a queue, I'd like to se each of you cast a patronus spell."

We lined up in the front of the classroom, wands at the ready. There were a few people before me, including Al, with his silver bear, and Scorpius with his fox.

When it was finally my turn I raised my wand, excited to show everybody my tiger-patronus. I chose the memory of my thirteenth birthday - when I was woken by my parents, Hugo and my four best friends - and cast the spell, "expecto patronum".

I wasn't greeted by my silver tiger though, but instead by a small animal that caused my mouth to drop to the floor. I looked around to see my friends looking equally stunned - they had seen my old patronus before.

Right in front of me, however, was not the old one. In it's place was a little, silver ferret…

* * *

**Seeing as this is my first cliffhanger, I would really like some feedback. So **_**please**_** review, I live off of those babies!**

**Lea**


	5. The Voices in my Head

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any original characters you might read about, it all belongs to Queen Joanne!**

Chapter five: The Voices In My Head

A, bloody, effing, ferret!

How, bloody, effing, perfect!

My head was unable to form normal sentences (if not to talk about the lack of original thought it, apparently, suffered from as well).

I could feel the whole class staring at me - probably because most of them had previously seen my patronus, and remembered that it was, in fact, _not_ a ferret.

Yet, the only thing going through my mind right then were the words; 'ferret-boy'. Over and over again, so many times that the actual words might have actually begun floating out through my ears - not that I would have noticed if that was, in fact, the case.

The professor was the one bringing me back to reality - reality being the room full of students whispering and laughing to one another on my behalf.

With ears as dark red as my hair, I muttered a quick apology to Miss Chang, and went back to my place next to Sam - a _wickedly smiling _Sam.

Her smirk earned her the most withering stare I could muster at the moment, while I crossed my arms over my chest, and turned slightly away from her.

The joy I normally felt in class had gone away the moment the silver creature appeared from my wand, and I did something I had never even imagined doing. I took a look at my wristwatch, wanting nothing more than for the school bell to ring, thereby causing the extremely awkward situation to end.

Everyone knew, that only under special circumstances did one's patronus change it's shape, just as every single one of my classmates knew about the nickname I had so generously granted Sam's brother with, and the story behind it.

I was the first out of the classroom when the bell rang. Laura, Sam and Nat quickly caught up with me, but if it was out of curiosity or general concern, I didn't looked at me with eyes full of pity, "Erhm, Rosie, d'you know th…"

"I know," I interrupted her brutally, and walked even faster. All three of the girls, of cause, caught up with me once again. I knew what she had been about to say. My face was flaming so brightly, that people back in England might see it, and mistake me for a flare.

"But your f…" Nat then tried, but I fixed her with a glare. When humiliated, scared or irritated, I would usually take it out on whomever was near me, and in worst cases, the famous Weasley-temper would invade me. It wasn't something I did on purpose, and my friends, thankfully, knew that. My newly black-haired friend didn't frighten very easily, though, and she kept talking, "Rose, you're red in the face… It's not likely that people will read anything into it, sweetie…"

That's when I snapped. I turned around, against Sam, so quickly that she gave a small jump. "YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW WHAT PEOPLE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF RIGHT NOW? They are busy telling their friends from other houses, that Ron Weasley's daughter has fallen for that Malfoy-kid, the son of her family's enemy…

"I swore this year would be different! No more rumours about my personal business, and about my family! But instead I go and give them the best story ever, on the first day of FRICKIN' SCHOOL!!" I yelled the last part so loudly, the a couple of third-years walking in front of us, looked at me with frightened faces - I might as well have been wearing an Elvis costume, walking around singing 'Hound Dog' by myself - and hurried around the corner, towards the Great Hall.

"So you have no idea why your patronus has changed?" Sam kept asking, as if I hadn't just yelled her in the face. She only looked curious… Too curious, actually…

"I don't like your stupid brother, if that's what you're insinuating," I immediately told her, my tone getting calmer. Truth be told, though, I was in doubt whether I was trying to convince them or myself.

'The word bed is sounding extremely tempting at the moment…' My head told me. Of course, my head knew that we had a double lesson in devination (what the bloody hell is going on with all the double lessons?!) but at the same time, it was both spinning and pounding, so I let it, my head that is, win this battle.

Instead of turning left for lunch, I went straight ahead, muttering something to the girls about a headache, and walked up the marble staircase. I had never before been this anxious to see the dorm, desperately wanting to avoid all my fellow students and their questions. But even more yet, I wanted to avoid my cousins - all of them. A pretty lofty goal, seeing as they were everywhere; in each house, in each year and in every single classroom I would be able to catch one of the Weasley relatives.

After giving the password to The Fat Lady - "Brussels sprouts" - I ran as fast as I could up the stairs and turned left towards the girls' dorms.

My bed moved a little to the side when I threw myself on it as hard as I could. With the hands under my head my thoughts immediately began flowing again.

'What are people telling each other?

Are they telling the whole truth, or are they adding some details themselves?

Are they sharing their own theories with each other?

How many of them actually believe me to be in love with Scorpius?

What do Al and Scor think of all this?

How is my head able to formulate so many questions, with a headache that is getting worse by the minute?

Why do I even care what people think? I know the truth, and that should be enough... right...?'

That was when the thought crossed my mind - what about my parents? I sat up in bed so quick, one would think I was being tortured with the cruchiatus-curse. My mum and dad had contact with several teachers at this place, at if they ended up believing this rumour (you never know!) I'd be doomed. The word that immediately sprung to mind was 'howler'.

I groaned, and laid back down on my four-poster. Few minutes later, I was fast asleep.

* * *

I was shaken awake some time later by Natascha. She was standing over me, looking down at me determinedly.

Laura, sitting in the foot of the bed, was the first one to say something, "the guys asked about how you were feeling. Scorpius actually seemed genuinely concerned, whether you might believe it or not! He wasn't smirking at all."

Tired as I was, I lifted my head just high enough over my pillow, so that I could see the entire room, 'well, that's a first,' I thought.

I turned to Laura before laying my head back on my pillow, "where's Sam? I don't assume she's in classes, 'cause that would be _really_ out of character for her."

"No, she kinda' went after Al, because he kept asking us about you, and… everything," Nat seemed to be choosing her words carefully, as if not wanting to create any awkwardness. She was always great that way.

"I think I feel a little bad for him, though… wait… wait a minute! No, it was just hunger!" The sarcasm was evident in my voice, and very intentional. I didn't feel bad for him what so ever.

Laura laughed so hard, she fell off of my bed with a huge 'BAM'. This, of course, made me snort (very un-ladylike, might I add), which made Nat laugh as well.

We were so caught up in our amusement, that we didn't notice a fourth person walking in and sitting in the bed opposite of mine, the one that belonged to Sam.

I was gasping for my breath, when turning around and then gasping due to utter surprise."What are you doing here?" Suddenly my mood had changed entirely. What I felt right now was embarrassment, anger and a feeling, that ripping the boy's head off would probably make me happy.

"I was bored… Once again, the turtledoves are playing 'who can intensify the sexual tension between us the most' - a game I would prefer _not_ being a part of."

Nat nodded her head in understanding, while helping Laura up from the ground (where she had previously been rolling around in hysterics).

Something wasn't right, though. If most of my friends were here, it had to mean that… OH NO! I took a peak at my wristwatch, and jumped up, "It's 5:30! Why the hell didn't anyone wake me up? I could have been present for the last couple of classes today…"

"Oh drop it, drama queen! If we had woken you up, that would have been wrong as well. Besides, you just asked whether Sam was in class or not. I assumed you knew what time it is."

"Well, you know what happens when you assume," I muttered under my breath. She, apparently, chose to ignore that comment.

I sat back down, my panic attack over. Nat had a point. The few extra hours of sleep had definitely been much needed. I looked at Scor, partly trying to shift subjects, but also wanting to forget what had happened earlier today - 'cause it meant nothing… right?

"Soo," I stretched out the word for dramatic effect, "what d'you think's going on between Al and your sister?"

It had been a desperate change of conversation, but it had sure worked. The four of us were so busy discussing everything under the sun - helped by Laura's funny inputs - that we actually missed dinner. It had, for about an hour, made me forget who we were talking to. It had made me forget all about the 'incident' as I liked referring to it in my head (yea, so I'm a little psychotic, I've learned to deal with that).

We broke up the party when Sam appeared in the door, slightly out of breath. Her brother stood up to leave, sending a smirk my direction, before looking back at Sam, "wow, you sound out of breath!" He feigned astonishment, "did you guys run around the whole school, or did some other sport cause this?" His voice was dripping with innuendo as he wiggled his eyebrows, underlining the meaning behind his words.

He winked at me, before hurrying out. Sam's, or rather, my, edition of Jane Eyre hit the door milliseconds after it closed. I quickly got up to fetch my book, "Sam! When I lend you something, especially when I lend you one of my books, I expect you to not throw it around our dorm." I shook my head at her.

"Yea, well that Charlotte-woman probably had it coming."

I sighed, sitting back down in my bed, not even trying to make her see sense. My thoughts were, at the moment, otherwise occupied, 'a wink should not have this kind of an effect on me! I'm usually one of the most level headed girls at Hogwarts.' My thoughts alone made me blush even more than I already was.

Ignoring Sam's pointed stares, Nat's knowing look and the curiosity in Laura's face, I pulled out The Hobbit in order to read the last chapter, 'I'll just deal with it tomorrow.'

However, just how much there was to deal with, I had no idea.

* * *

**Charlotte Brontë - the woman Sam is referring to - is the author of the novel 'Jane Eyre'.**

Okay, so this chapter kinda sucked! However, I'm in the middle of writing the next chapter and, so far, it seems to be much better than this one - but, hey, that's just one girl's opinion...

Please review, they make my day, and they make me a better writer (yep, they're pure magic!!).


	6. Friends Like These

This chapter took me a long time. I was almost done when my computer somehow erased most of my stuff, so I had to re-write it. That explains (and hopefully excuses) my lack of updating. I'm very sorry!

Anyways, enjoy the sixth chapter.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, and a couple of original characters.**

* * *

Chapter six: Friends like these

My head hurt like Hell when I woke up the next morning. It was a blissful five seconds before I regained memory of yesterday's occurrences, and let out a groan in frustration.

My wristwatch, laying on the nightstand, told me that it was 5:32, so I fell back down on my pillow, figuring that Sam's alarm would probably just wake me anyway.

Oh, and how right I was! By five past six everybody in the dorm was up and in the middle of getting ready. Sam and Grace were fighting over the bathroom as usual and Nat was already on her way down to breakfast with Laura in her heals, who was gently reminding me that is was almost weekend.

I, myself, was far from ready. I was still in PJ's, and my hair was a mess… more so than usual.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly got up in order to take a really long shower, using any excuse possible to prolong my morning in the dorm, alone, without anybody gossiping about me, looking at me funnily and whispering about me behind my back.

"_Yesterday was the worst day ever and tomorrow won't be better, it's history repeati…"_

I was in the middle of tying my shoes, while having the "worst song ever", as I called it (clever, right?), stuck in my head when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

"Hey Rosie," it was Al with a tray of food, "I figured you weren't in the mood to go down there, so I brought you something to eat. I know it's from the kitchen, and that you don't support in asking the house elves for favours…"

"No, it's okay Albie," I was really touched by his thoughtfulness, "I appreciate the thought."

On the outside I was cool, calm and collected, but on the inside I was doing a happy dance at the thought of not having to go down into the Great Hall.

"Which classes do you have today?"

"In about…" I looked at my wristwatch, "20 minutes I have Transfiguration and then I believe we have Care of Magical Creatures together," I smiled at his attempt to segue away from our 'personal' moment.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Oh, no reason," I giggled, purposely annoying him.

"And now you're giggling, why are you giggling!?"

I just smirked at him, grabbed my bag and went out the door with my cousin in my heals. He kept whining, and I kept ignoring him.

*

My hand was furiously scribbling down notes, as McGonagall told us all about conjuring inanimate objects out of thin air, and I had every intention of making up for the fact that I had absolutely learned nothing the day before.

It wasn't until I briefly turned my head to examine the room that I noticed my friends whispering. They were seated a couple of rows from where I sat so I couldn't hear what they were saying. I was very curious, and at the same time I felt like I was being a lesser part of our group by the minute.

I sighed and went back to taking notes.

*

It was the same in Care of Magical Creatures. I was paired up with Laura, which was a good thing, but Nat and Sam were still whispering, only, now they had invited Al to join their 'club'.

I couldn't read their expressions, but I had a feeling that I knew what they were talking about - or rather, _who_ they were talking about.

*

At lunch they had all gone back to including me in their conversations. It didn't make me feel better, though, because I knew that they were purposefully hiding something from me.

I smiled weakly at a joke Sam had made up, and kept poking at the food in front of me with my fork.

I looked up in surprise when Al put a hand on my shoulder from behind me, "hey Rosie, can I talk to you for a minute? It's kind of important." His facial expression was really solemn.

The curious person that I am, I followed him without any form of hesitation. We went out of the hall, apparently in search of an empty classroom. He found one a couple of floors away, and held the door for me gallantly.

'Or maybe not so gallantly,' was my first thought, as I suddenly discovered myself locked up inside of the room. Al was nowhere in sight, though I could hear him through the, now locked, door. However, I was not alone.

"Do you have any idea as to why we are here, Rosie?"

I turned around so fast that my head spun, and I almost fell over.

"You're kidding me, right?" I didn't know to whom I was talking - Scorpius for catching me, saving my face from the otherwise inevitable (and probably very graceful) run in with the floor, or Albus, for locking us up in an empty classroom.

Once standing again, still - secretly - felling his hands on my hips, I hammered my fists into the door repeatedly for about a minute, while screaming at my cousin in every language I knew, before giving up.

Al, the prick, was merely laughing like the situation was somehow an everyday occurrence.

"Let me out of here you moron!" I had stopped banging on the door, and instead focused all of my attention to insulting the boy on the other side of the door.

I stopped yelling, suddenly, and mentally slapped myself for not thinking of using my wand.

"Why didn't I think of that before?" I mumbled, scolding myself. "Oh, that's why," my wand was not in my robes.

"You know, talking to oneself is the first sign of craziness," it came from behind me. I had almost forgotten that he was here (okay, so I hadn't, but I sure tried!).

"Wipe that smirk off your face before I do it for you, Malfoy."

His smile got wider, "Is that a threat or a promise?"

"ARGH! Why the hell are we in here, Al? Have I done something to make you mad?"

"Nah," he said offhandedly, "we just thought it was time that you two got to know each other without having a row, so you're not coming out until you have had a normal conversation," although I couldn't see him, I knew he was just about laughing his ass off, and I hated him for it. But most of all I hated Nat and Sam for putting me in this position.

I lowered my voice, that way making him painfully aware that I was dangerously serious, and said, "You can keep us locked up in here for as long as you like, but if you value your life, you better let me out right now."

Scorpius kept smirking, but I ignored the sudden urge to punch his lights out. I wanted to hit him for smirking, for teasing me, for being the reason that my life was now one big mess but most of all I wanted to punch him for being so damn adorable that I actually reconsidered punching him (if you didn't follow that last sentence don't feel bad, neither did I).

"If I let you guys out, will you reconsider being mad at me?" He sounded rather timid, something that actually surprised me.

"I'll reconsider it."

When the door opened, I found all my friends out there, looking at me nervously. All except Nat, who was looking at me expectantly.

"I've got nothing to say to you guys," I shook my head, but didn't move an inch.

Scorpius didn't seem annoyed by this little scheme at all, but he might have been on the inside. He buried his hands in the pockets of his uniform trousers, and went back in the direction of the Great Hall, whispering in my ear as he went by, "don't tell me it was _that_ bad being stuck with me."

I blushed, and went in the other direction. My next class was muggle studies, and I just couldn't be late.

*

I didn't talk to any of them through the rest of our classes, I was too mad at them. Never in my life had I been this angry. I knew, however, that an eventual confrontation was inevitable, and the longer I waited before talking to any of them, the more pissed I'd get, and the worse of a rage attack they would receive.

I had purposely spent the entire afternoon in the library, studying for McGonagall's essay, not returning until it was time for dinner.

Dinner, however, was a nightmare. Al was still very amused by the whole situation, and I had an inkling that he hadn't participated out of 'helpfulness', but that he had just found the idea hilarious, 'jerk!' Nat ignored me, clearly insulted that I didn't appreciate their attempt to 'help me' as they called it. Laura was confused, and didn't know what was going on.

Sam was the worst, though. She kept talking to me as if nothing remotely unpleasant was going on between us, making want to punch her in the face. However, I thought twice about that, and decided to just beat it.

I stood up very suddenly, causing Sam to jump in her chair, and left them all chocked at the Gryffindor table.

On my way out I made eye contact with Scorpius who was sitting at the Slytherin table, but he looked away immediately.

Sam followed me out of the hall, struggling to keep up, "I don't get why you won't just accept a little help once in a while."

"I told you all to mind your own bloody business, but as usual, you don't listen to me - you guys don't listen to anyone but yourselves and each other. I'm tired of just being ignored!"

I didn't even bother looking back. It didn't matter if she heard me, she wouldn't remember it anyway. Everything I ever said always seemed to make it's way through one ear and then out the other.

There was ringing in my ears, that prevented me from hearing anything she might have been saying, but I could still feel her presence when I arrived in front of the Fat Lady, "Password?!"

"Patronus," I answered, quickly wiping away a tear from my eye. 'Life stinks!'

It's not like I was naïve enough to believe that they would just leave my problems be once asked, but I had hoped that they'd at least have waited a couple of months.

"…only wanted to help," was the last thing I heard, before seeing red. I turned around so suddenly that she took a few steps back, but her eyes kept speaking her case; she refused to give up.

It took all of my self control to remain calm, but my voice came out surprisingly humble and begging, "can't you guys just please let me digest this, before you 'try to help me'?" I made air quotes with my fingers, trying to make her understand that what she had done, wasn't helping me one bit.

Sam gave me a sad look and shook her head, before storming up the stairs.

*

An hour later, I was sitting, quietly, in my bed, behind the curtains. The other girls were talking, even Grace chimed in once in a while. Of course, Sam repeatedly told her to shut her fat face.

Although I couldn't hear everything they said, the few snippets I _did_ hear, made it clear that they were talking about me, and that they obviously believed me to be fast asleep.

After hearing the phrase 'in denial' for the sixth time, I finally had enough. I went out of bed - dressed only in hot-pants and a much to small tank top, mind you - ignoring their surprised and guilty looks.

I kept running; down the stairs to the common room, out through the Fat Lady's portrait, all the way down to an equally familiar painting. I went through it and up the left hand staircase, soon knocking on one of the doors, trying to catch my breath. Getting suddenly nervous, I was about to turn around and leave, when the door opened.

This time, my breathlessness wasn't caused by any kind of exercise. It was caused by the deeply concerned-looking, blond-haired bloke standing in front of me, motioning for me to come inside.

"Are you okay, Rosie?" he asked and, surprisingly, wrapped his arms around me in a hug.

I just shook my head, and held onto him for dear life.

* * *

Hope you liked the small cliff hanger. I am growing rather fond of them so expect there to be more of cliffies in the near future.

Anyways, please review if you want me to update more frequently.

Lea


	7. No Idea

**Disclaimer: Is it just me, or is this part getting really old? I wasn't Rowling in the last six chapters, and I haven't magically turned into her in the meantime, the conclusion being that I am NOT the owner of Harry Potter.**

* * *

Chapter 7: No Idea...

Something was different. My pillow felt different and my duvet was thinner than it usually was. It wasn't before I actually opened my eyes that it dawned on me; I was currently lying in a bed in the 7th year Slytherin _boys'_ dormitories.

Scorpius had been gentlemanly enough to sleep on the floor, letting me have his green and silver four-poster. He'd even held me for about half an hour the night before, trying to calm me down. This new side of him intrigued me, I had to admit.

I held a hand to my mouth when I yawned while sitting up in the bed, I did not want to wake anyone, especially not my cousin who was snoozing in the bed by the window. This was a place that I seldom visited, so I looked around, really drinking in the room for the first time.

Four tall beds, all similar to Scorpius', were placed against the cold-looking, grey walls. Next to each bed there was a small nightstand, just like the ones in my own dorm.

The room looked a little sad, but here and there the wall was adorned with quidditch posters, one of them clearly Al's as it was signed by the whole Harpies team, along with a special note from Aunt Ginny. I had received a poster just like that from her a couple of years ago, but I never showed it to my dad. It was currently residing in the top desk drawer in my room back in Oxfordshire.

I was quickly shaken out of my thoughts when I heard a noise from right next to me, and I knew without looking that Scorpius was awake.

"G'morning," he yawned quietly, obviously trying not to wake his roommates. I could imagine why.

A couple of them would probably tease and start even more rumours, but Al would be the worst. It didn't matter that I was older than him, or that he had just tried to set me up with Scorpius the day before, he was still extremely protective of me, and probably wouldn't like seeing me in his best friend's bed. That's why I didn't want to wake him either.

"Good morning, Scorpius," I replied, making a surprised look appear on his handsome face.

I mentally scolded myself for thinking that he was handsome, but facts can't be denied.

"What happened to 'Malfoy'?" he smirked a little, letting me know that he was still the same person as always, "am I growing on you, Rosie?"

His smirk was now so wide that I blushed and decided to go back to my own dorm. I should have known that it was a fluke, that he was having an off day. He was, and would always be, Malfoy! I couldn't help but notice, though, that the infamous smirk was beginning to grow on me. I shuddered mentally at the thought.

Apparently, I hadn't been able to hide my uneasiness quite as well as I had hoped, because he noticed, and his serious face was back.

"Hey, you know I didn't mean to tease you, right?"

"Yea," I brushed him off, "I just have to get back before people get suspicious. Hogwarts' biggest blabbermouth lives in my dorm, you know," I smiled as he followed me out through the portrait leading to the dungeon hall.

"Who, Grace?" he asked leaning against the frame, his nearly golden locks falling down in his face. He looked adorable.

I smiled even wider at his ignorance and simply said, "Sam," before giving him a small peck on the cheek, turning around and strolling down the corridor. I felt his eyes on me the whole time, but I didn't dare turning back.

I smiled to myself, maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

*

What I hadn't noticed, though, was a person watching, grinning to themselves. The situation couldn't have looked good from another persons point of view…

*

"Where the bloody hell have you been, Weasley?" I was attacked with questions as soon as I stepped inside the dorm. I didn't particularly feel like talking to Sam right at that moment, so I tried to ignore her.

Of course, I should have known it would be like trying to ignore a blast ended screwt while sharing an elevator with it; complete waste of energy. She kept bugging me because, let's face it, that's what Sam did best, until I lost my patience, "mind your own business, would you? I'm not exactly in the mood to talk to any of you guys."

Having found my clothes neatly folded on my bed (you've got to love house elves sometimes) I slammed the bathroom door right in front of Grace who had been on her way out there herself. I heard Sam laughing on the other side of the door, and couldn't help but snigger a little myself as I turned on the water and went into the steaming hot shower.

I leaned against the wall to my left, closed my eyes and enjoyed the fact that it was Saturday. Of course, the blond new Slytherin with whom I'd just made friends crossed my mind more than once, and once or twice in fantasies that weren't exactly PG-13 material, and that actually made me blush.

Okay, so maybe I was falling… a little bit, but that didn't mean that anything would happen. I didn't trust him, and I barely even knew him. Sure, I had fought with him since we were in second year when I had started hating him, but he had always been the one to keep a great distance between us by being, well, him.

My thoughts were interrupted by a pounding on the door, "could you hurry up a bit, Weasley, some of us actually have dates," Grace's snotty voice was heard over the sound of the running water.

I sighed, turned off the water and hurried out of the shower and into my robe, all of this while trying, in vain, to ignore Grace's persistent knocking.

*

I knew something was off from the moment I stepped into the Great Hall for breakfast. It was dejá vu, and a pretty darn uncomfortable one at that. Everybody in the hall was whispering to each other, having seemingly interesting conversations that immediately stopped the moment I stepped inside.

My eyes darted from the Slytherin table to my left - noticing that Scorpius wasn't there yet - and to the Ravenclaw table on my right, as an uneasy feeling began it's invasion of my gut. They were staring at me. Maybe not all of them, but enough to make me fear that The Daily Prophet had reported that I was a mass murderer or something to that affect.

I sat down next to Lily, my eyes still darting from corner to corner, 'Merlin, who knew the Great Hall was so big!'

"Hi Red, lookin' _well rested_ this morning."

Unfortunately for me, I hadn't noticed who was now, due to my own brilliant observation skills, sitting on my other side.

"Sod off, James!" I brushed off my cousin, just like I always did when I wasn't in the mood for neither him nor Jess, but barely a second later, the apparent meaning behind his tone made me turn my head towards him, "what are you on about?!"

I might have sounded too desperate for a quick answer, which might have been the reason for James Potter's rapidly growing smirk, but all I cared about was finding out how on earth he could have known about my sleepover in the Slytherin quarters.

"The whole school's buzzing, Rosie," he got that wicked gleam in his eye, the one that I always hated so much because I knew it meant 'this is going to end up in a not-so-nice way for anyone but me'.

Dreading the answer to my question, I asked him anyways, "'bout what!"

I knew that it was a mistake asking him that as soon as I had done it, because his eyes were now glowing with mischief, "someone saw some redhead coming out through the portrait leading into the Slytherin common room and, on top of that - drum roll please - kissing her sworn enemy since second year on her way out."

"I SO did NOT kiss him!"

"Aha, so it's true, huh!" I was beginning to think that his mouth might split down the middle with the smile he was sporting. I sank even further down in my seat that I already was, almost hitting the floor with my butt.

James had turned to talk to someone on his other side as I began processing this new bit of information. Gabby went by, winking at me, and I briefly wondered who would even be up at eight o'clock in the morning on a Saturday, walking around the dungeons.

"Who?" I asked James, and he looked back at me questioningly.

"Who, what?"

"Who saw us?"

He looked at me like I was nuts, "Why should I know? I don't dish it, I just pick it up here and there," he raised an eyebrow, taking a bite of his buttered toast.

Now it was my turn to dig out the disbelieving facial expression, "Oh, puh-lease, you're Hogwarts' biggest gossip king… queen."

"Am not!"

'Oh, so he decided to play the kindergarten game, huh. Well I master that one.'

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Oh yea? Well, my dad can totally beat your dad!"

"Who's your dad? Harry Potter or something?" we both began laughing at our ridiculous argument, causing Lily, who was still sitting to my left, to slap her forehead.

I didn't stop laughing until someone tapped me on the shoulder, "Sis, you do realise that you are going to need to put a stopper to this rumour before someone tells someone else about it, who tells someone else, who then tells mum and dad."

The boy had a point!

"Damn it!" I had not thought of that. The school I could deal with, and I could sometimes soften up mum, but when it concerned Malfoy, my dad might get a little mad.

'A little furious is more like it,' the realistic side of my brain reasoned.

As I sat there, literally shaking at the thought of my parents reactions if I didn't do something quickly, I didn't notice my cousins, and my brother, saying goodbye and leaving the table.

"What's going on with everybody?" someone whispered in my ear. I jumped off my chair, turning around in the process, only to see Scorpius standing in front of me, looking amused.

"Why does everyone seem to find my misery hilarious today? First Lily, then James, then Lily again and now you," I had intended for it to come out in a whisper, but instead I ended up almost pleading wearing that 'pity me' expression that always make people laugh at me.

But he didn't laugh, instead he grabbed my hand, not my arm but my _hand_, and pulled me out of the Great Hall, and outside.

He released my hand, gesturing for me to sit down in the grass by the lake. I sat down with my legs crossed, leaning my head on my hand for support.

Before he even got to ask, I started talking, "someone saw us coming out of your common room, and apparently told the whole school," I decided not to tell him about the 'kiss', knowing it would cause awkwardness between us.

"And you have no idea who saw?"

"No, but apparently were 'dating' now, do you have any idea how dead am when my parents find out?" I was, for once, speaking in a normal volume, but inside I was screaming so loud that it would have been heard all the way to Dublin and back.

"Find out what? That we're supposedly dating, or that we gave people a reason to think so," he was no longer looking at me, but in direction of the lake, obviously thinking about something.

I ignored my curiosity, and answered him shortly, "take your pick. My dad's gonna blow a casket, just knowing that I actually talk to you." I scooted closer to the lake, and he automatically put his arm around my shoulder.

"And I don't even have Sam, Laura or Nat, or even Al to talk to about it," I sniffed, "to back me up."

"Hey," he soothed in a voice I had only heard once before, "I'm here, okay?"

"Thanks," I smiled, "it still bothers me, though."

"What?"

"I mean, who hates me so much that they'd want to start rumours about me?"

"I really have no idea, Rosie…"

* * *

**Okay, so this chapter was finished much faster than the others, due to the fact that I have found the secret behind writing a Fan Fiction: it's a stupid idea to improvise! I have made out what's going to happen during the next five chapters, so expect more frequent postings from now on.**

**Please review, I so love it when you do!**

**Lea**


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